Mr Zaharoff

By Asher Lewis Stam

In the late 1800s, a man of noble blood arrives in Western Europe to start his legacy.
Follow the true story of how he reaches the height of his ambitions.
A book that explores commitment, hope, frustration and war.

Immerse yourself in this future Victorian classic.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Asher Lewis Stam
• Release date: Jan 17, 2021
• ISBN: 9781370351145

Book preview

Chapter One

The dancing queen and her family

October had finally arrived, and despite the late autumn weather, Miss Emily Ann Burrows was dancing fervently in unrelenting rainfall on the porch of her home. Being swept away by a vivid imagination, she was spinning elegantly like a ballet dancer, as if her fiancé was present to accompany her. Although alone, her fancy of a romance was no mere fantasy. As her wavy curly hair blew in a perpetuous wind, her pink petticoat dampened in the rain; regardless, she had not a care in the world.

The besotted soul was aroused from her daydreaming by the front door behind her being flung open violently. Through a dizzy haze, there echoed a voice in the background, her mother's, beckoning her in, not in a harsh tone but instead with a sound of excitement to it.

'Yes, Mother?' the young girl enquired with a soft smile, revealing a set of shiny ivory teeth and a pair of rosy cheeks upon a fair sweet face that was blushing more than ever because of the spirited dancing. She spoke in a Bristol accent with a heavy r and adding l’s liberally.

'You, my dear, shall help me set the table.' So Emily Ann went in and obliged her mother obediently. On a wooden table in the kitchen, she lay five plates and sets of cutlery for dinner with her family.

As per usual, at six o'clock sharp in the evening, Father had returned from work and was changing upstairs in more presentable clothes to eat in.

Emily's father, Mr John Burrows, was a builder. Life was long, strenuous, arduous workdays, and although he was tired after labouring hard the whole day, he felt mainly energised. 'Sweet daughter of mine is to be married in a couple of days!' he kept repeating to himself.

Hardly a few people in Bristol knew Mr Burrows, even though he carried out his profession all over town, from which he earned a modest living for his small family.

If you were able to set an eye on Mr Burrows amidst his hectic schedule, the chances would be high of finding him busy, repairing woodwork for some outer walls or hammering beams of timber hanging on ropes from the ceiling of a church building.

Specialising in restoration work for churches, chapels and cathedrals, the local builder was proud of what he did and had amassed tools aplenty for his extensive shed. An enterprise of lumberjacks sawed timbers for him as he expanded business. Acquiring a royal project such as Temple Church with its leaning tower was a prospect he dreamed of working on one day.

Mr Burrows was especially pleased with the busy town centre, gaining much satisfaction in improving the pious properties. Considering he embraced a charitable spirit with religious zeal, it was understandable how appalled he grew when he heard from his daughter that she had once learnt at school that piles of dead bodies had been stacked up at All Saints Church during the Black Death in the fourteenth century of our Lord. How glad Mr Burrows was to have been born in an era of enlightenment! He would never venture into the ports of town, where large ships and schooners with vast sets of sails poured in and out, embarking and disembarking, from the Caribbean and Africa conveying cargo of rum and cotton, for he regarded the docks as a haven for filth where intoxicated sailors would pollute the land with their dirty ways and sinful rowdiness.

Freshened up in a set of neat, clean clothes, he made his way downstairs, at which he heard a knock at the front door. Upon his wife opening it, he saw two identically looking women rushing in elatedly. They were his daughter's aunties, his wife's twin sisters. At the same time, they sped to the living room immediately and presented a most desirable garment on a straight settee that stood there. 'Look,' they exclaimed to Emily in unison. 'Your wedding dress.'

Emily Ann gasped, raising her hands to her mouth. 'The layers are like waves or petals of a flower! And such perfect drapery and stitching. I adore it.'

'Mr Crackendale has done us proud,' Mrs Burrows remarked, referring to the best tailor in the county whose father had done her wedding dress three decades ago, although in a darker colour that suited the mode of that time. These days wedding gowns were popular in white, and both parents understood why it bore a much brighter appearance for such a wonderful day of Holy Matrimony.

Mr Burrows envisioned his precious daughter beside the husband-to-be who has a posture of gentleman-like masculinity and wearing fashionable, smart attire.

Mulling over the bridegroom, he spoke to the quartet of women, 'I have to say, girls, when Mr Gortzacoff offered us fifteen pounds toward the dress, my initial inclination was to decline cordially. But, upon his kindly insistence, I backed down. And now, upon catching sight of this glorious piece of fabric, I am delighted.'

'And I so much more, Father. May I try it on this evening?' Emily Ann asked eagerly, facing her mother.

'Yes, of course. But first, we must eat, for I have cooked shepherd's pie.'

So after reclining at the table, they gave thanks to the Lord, ate, and the whole family kept speaking keenly in anticipation for the big day of celebration that was to come.

Chapter Two

Lots at store

Giving away your daughter to a gentleman in marriage is something that is underestimated by those who have no experience of it, Mr Burrows determined. Giving her away felt honourable even though he still remembered his daughter as a small girl. He would always treasure her for being a generous and hardworking person. Once, she had received numerous letters sent from all types of ladies thanking her for her good deeds, such as in 1869 when she had helped a family out even though it meant taking a tiring ride on the bumpy carriage for twenty minutes each way to the country every day but Sunday. On that occasion, she had tended the sheep discreetly while the farmer had had a malady and was consequently bedridden for a fortnight. What impressed her father the most, Emily Ann had done that with a smile on her face from when she began tending them until the forever grateful farmer had recovered.

There was another occasion, that Emily’s father will never forget too. It was that time she came to help him out with work in the shed. He had desperately needed to complete a project he had been working on for the Church. His hired workers however, were off on a strike organised by the traders union.

She is an angel under the protective wings of a loving father, he thought; One of the cherubim whose valiant task it was to bestow fellow man multiple lessons in virtue. He pictured her as a rose between thorns and thistles. He had often walked down the winding roads so common to England and Wales, and every time he passed a sweet-smelling flower called ‘Sweet Brier,’ growing in a garden, it would remind him of how his cherished daughter was in the blossom of her youth.

Today, John had requested Emily Ann to join him to collect an important electric telegram from Mr Gortzakoff and now they were cheerfully walking arm in arm to the telegraph office. To think two penny and three penny post had previously been sent by boys mounted on an idle hack, or mere horse, she thought.

The leaves were dabs of brown, orange, and red and the road was shiny and slippery from the rain and they were on the route across the Bristol bridge and along Victoria Street.

‘I am proud of you, you know,’ he said beaming.

She blushed, ‘I know Dad.’

‘To think that you will be married this time next week!’

‘I can’t believe it myself,’ she gave thoughts with the most attentiveness, about her fiancé, Mr Gortzakoff, and she felt a tingle and butterflies in her stomach.

‘Do you think you will miss Bristol?’ he asked, with a smile of adoration and not trying to linger long on the fact she was moving out.

‘I will miss the boats passing Spike Island and visiting my friends at the Clifton and Redland neighbourhood,’ she paused to think of her friends. ‘And I will miss the  unspoiled blissful view at Avon Gorge and walking with you and Rags at the Snuff Mills in the summer past all those quaint mills on the riverbank.’ Rags is their black Cairn Terrier who was averagely small but with the courage of a wolf and bags of energy.

Emily Ann’s father felt a tear in his eye which was usually dry but this was no ordinary circumstance.

Father and daughter entered the office, collected three telegrams, and said thank you to the operator.  The two instantly looked at the combined text:

FAM BURROWS LOOKING FORWARD TO GRAND WEDDING! DAY BEFORE AT PADDINGTON STATION FRIEND MR ELIADES WILL MEET OUTSIDE AND TAKE YOU TO PLACE TO STAY. AS PROMISED GRAND METHODIST CENTRAL. BEEN FLEXIBLE AND’LL DROP ORTHODOXY FOR ONE DAY. CEREMONY 10 AM. MR GORTZAKOFF GENERAL OF KYIV

Chapter Three

A journey of a lifetime

The big day of celebration was one day and night away, and the Burrows family was in high spirits.

Mr John Burrows was making a confined effort to tease his wife, giving her tongue and cheek about the pair of high-heeled shoes she was wearing. Mrs Jacky Burrows sought to ignore her husband's remarks by making herself relevant for an important journey ahead and thus prepared sandwiches for lunch. And Emily Ann let everything pass over her like having a cold shower on a hot day.

Reaching a life-changing milestone such as getting married was 'a once in a lifetime' experience according to the happily married couple, Mr & Mrs Burrows, who gladly recollected the joyous occasion they walked down the aisle and held a wedding feast in revelling success amidst much merrymaking. As parents, they were immensely proud of their precious daughter and became exceedingly excited for her as her wedding day drew nearer.

The engaged couple, Basil and Emily Ann were going to meet in the city of London. Basil had arranged that Emily Ann was to lodge with her family in an Inn nearby, to be picked up by him the following day for the commencement of the wedding ceremony.

At least three long weeks had passed since the betrothed had last seen each other, for Mr Gortzakoff had been away on a short business trip. Though, they had spent more time with each other during the month leading up to the marriage proposal than in the entire six months since they first met in the early winter of that year.

'Basil must be waiting in great expectation for me,' reckoned Emily Ann.

She noticed her parents dawdling behind with the heavy leather suitcases they had packed, dragging along beside them, and although she had the most belongings, including her wedding dress, she went to help her parents out with loading the luggage onto the wagon by which they were going to make their way to this station.

When they were ready and mounted, the horse started trotting, and the wagon pulled out of their street. Emily Ann heard the thudding of the hooves marking that they were underway! They crossed numerous lanes that they were familiar with and nodded to passing onlookers and some envious looking labourers taking a break outside a tobacco warehouse.

Before long though, Emily Ann could see the station from afar, and after turning onto a dusty yellow road, the